Assessment Task 1: Change Management Plan

Task summary:

There are four parts to this assessment:

Part A - You are required to review the case study provided below then conduct and analyse research on change management.

Part B - You are required to develop a change management plan.

Part C - You are required to submit your change management plan

What do I need in order to complete

Computer with Microsoft Office or similar program

Access to the Internet

Meeting space

Recruitment, Selection and Induction Policy and Procedure

Sampson Media Magazine Printing, Circulation and Distribution Policy and Procedure

Termination Policy and Procedure for Sampson

Case Study

Samson Media is a publisher of several upmarket fashion magazines. It has strong links with a number of high profile fashion houses whose products are featured in the magazines and also provide a significant source of advertising revenue. Readers of the magazines are predominantly 35 - 54 year old women.

Readership has fallen over the last two years. This is due in the most part to due to competition from a range of other fashion magazines and consumers switching to digital media.Due to the decline in readership, profits have fallen by 20% and there has also been a fall in the share price.

As a consequence, a new CEO, Amir Johnson, has been appointed. Amir was the former Marketing Director for a well-known successful media business that included a national newspaper, magazines and a subscription television channel. The success of this business was based on targeting lower income groups and its publications are focused mainly on sport and celebrity gossip. They were also successful because they were able to undercut its competitors with low prices, enabled by a ruthless approach to achieving high levels of efficiency.

Amir and his team of Managers have developed a Strategic Plan that includes the following objectives.

Increase return on capital to 8% within 2 years

Enact a transformational change of the company that will convert all magazines to a digital format only.

Achieve cost efficiencies through reducing running costs

Relocate to a smaller office.

It is intended that the new digital magazines will have the following features:

Focus on health and beauty, fashion and celebrity gossip.

Some free content but full access available only on a subscription basis.

Additional features available to subscribers such as video clips, podcasts and discussion

Running costs are as follows. All staff are full-time permanent staff and their total salary costs per annum is $3,370,000.00. The cost of running the printing and distribution site, plus staff costs is currently approximately $1,500,000 per annum. The current office rent is $500,000 per annum.

As the General Manager, you have been asked to lead the development and implementation of the change management plan with the first step being to consult with an organisational change expert to discuss issues and strategies for change management for the company.

It is anticipated that while there will be some cost savings in making the change, there will also be costs involved including:

Redundancies - anticipated cost is $300,000

Upskilling staff - $100,000

Consulting with experts - $100,000

Communication throughout change with key stakeholders - $100,000

Office relocation - $50,000 - $80,000.

Part A - Research and analysis

Instructions:

1.Review scenario and conduct research and analysis

a)Review the information in the scenario provided above and analyse the company's strategic objectives and identify the change needs. Make notes on your analysis for use in your plan as outlined below.

b)Review existing polices/practices at Samson Media against strategic objectives and the need for change and make notes identifying changes needed to use in your report. Identify if the change required due to performance gaps, business opportunities or threats, or management decisions.

c)Conduct research on change management - the issues and practices including barriers that can impact on change and best practice change management strategies. Also research trends in magazine publishing/on-line magazine readership and analyse the impact the impact on Samson Media's organizational objectives as per the scenario information.

d)Consider major operational change requirements and recommended order of priority.

e)You will need to identify your sources of information to show that you have identified expert guidance on change management so make notes on all the sources of information you identify and use.

Part B - Develop a change management plan

Instructions:

1.Using your research and analysis develop a Change Management Plan for Samson Media.

The Change Management Plan must address:

a)An overview of the change management process

b)An overview of the current situation facing Samson Media including:

-Identification of the need for change and an analysis of the situation that has bought about the change (performance gaps, business opportunities or threats, or management decisions)

-A review of existing polices/practices at Samson Media against strategic objectives to identify change requirements.

-An analysis of the external environment relevant to Samson Mediaand its objectives, including events/trends that impact on strategic objectives, including trends in magazine publishing, as well as trends in on-line magazine readership. Your analysis should reflect a PESTLE analysis approach, reviewing political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors.

c)A list of the potential barriers to the proposed changes and possible strategies to overcome or address them.

d)A detailed explanation of how an organisation can check their readiness for change. This should include examination of how organisational behaviour can impact change.

e)Strategies for embedding change into an organisation

f)Prioritisation of the recommended changes including your reasoning.

Your project plan will only address your first priority change. You may presume detail that is not included in the case study.

g)The particulars of the change. Ensure the following information is contained in your plan:

The name of the change/project

The stakeholder

Revision History

Stakeholder approval/endorsement

Type of change - policy/process/people/system

Resource requirements

A Risk Assessment that includes your particular barriers to change. In identifying risks and barriers to change you must demonstrate high level problem solving skills and innovative approaches to risk mitigation

Cost benefit analysis for your change

Implementation strategies that includes:

-The Action plan that details the activities, responsibility, resources and timeframe.

-The Communication plan that includes strategies to inform stakeholders of the change. Ensure the strategies you develop are designed to promote the benefits of change to staff and to reduce the likelihood of a negative response/adverse outcomes.

-The Training plan that identifies the training strategy, what training is required, who requires the training, the expected outcome, who will deliver the training, an estimation of the training cost.

Proposed reporting protocols. What will you report, when and to whom?

A bibliography that identifies your sources of information. You need to identify your sources of information to show that you have identified expert guidance on change management.